Chapter 11

I walk around the ship a couple time to stave off the growing anxieties. On the third or fourth time around, I hear quiet voices and turn the corner where Centauri talks to a small holorgram projected from the tiny band on her wrist. She has her back to me and wings curls around herself.

"Are you sure about this?" The hologram I can't see, but it sounds vaguely male and gravelly.

"Yeah, I finally have a hope for my people and my family." Centauri drifts off and shakes her head. "All in one I hope I can trust."

"Then I will let Thakur know what the plan is, when will you come?"

"Soon, we're just drifting in the Veruz belt." She lets out a small laugh. "I'm going to save them. I promise. No one will ever break us down like that again."

"Well you can't save everyone, not with the reactions."

"I can get over it," Centauri says, maybe a little too quickly. "I'll see you later Thaili."

There's a moment of silence before she looks over at the floor next to her. "You can stop standing there. Go ahead and ask your questions."

Startled out of a daze, I cross over the hall and join her in front of the full height window. "Might I ask who Thaili is."

She looks over, slightly amused. "Sorry Giver, didn't know you needed to know who all my allies were."

"Giver?"

She scrunches her nose and looks back to the void of stars. "You know, like a...birth giver."

"Mother." A smile finds its way on my face.

"Muh-thor," Centauri tries this and shakes her head. "Humans have weird words."

"Well so do you." I note.

Her face suddenly falls into a crestfallen frown. "I have to fix this. I have to."

"Well," I fidget with my hands, wondering if it's appropriate to take hers and make her look at me. Lord knows it could be some alien way to ask to be decked and thrown into oblivion. "You have us, we can help. I will help you get whats belonged to you." I'm sure even the stars are wilting at the absolute lameness that emits from my words.

Surprisingly, it seems to work. Centauri turns from the window with a new sort of strength and starts back down to the pilot's room. Leaving me to the window and my thoughts. The newest news is nothing I really wanted to hear. What do you do when one, your mother is an alien being you didn't believe in and two, your father has become some mass murderer of your new friend's people? Along with the fact that Earth was going to be overrun by beasts if they got ahold of the technology that we created.

My hand goes to the cold window, then my stinging face. I'm sure I look like a fool, but it feels nice for a change.

"Like that window?" Eridia stand behind me with her arms crossed again and I've never whirled around quicker. She looks tired with dark blue rings under her faded eyes. I notice the slight limps when she moves over to me and her shaking hand when she touches my face where I had been hit. "She didn't hurt you too bad did she?"

Stepping back from her hand, I mutter a 'no' and shove my hands in my pockets. My clothes are filthy and the quick shower I'd taken at Centauri's place was not enough for me to feel completely clean.

Eridia purses her lips when I look up and nods. "I understand the reluctance to trust me." She starts, "but eventually you'll see that I was right."

"I'm sure I will, but I made a promise I have to keep."

She laughs dryly. "That's exactly what your father told me. That he'd make it a better universe for you to explore in. Now he's off galavanting with my power...my wings." Her hand goes to her side and she looks distant for a moment. "It's too dangerous for you."

"You have grossly underestimated what I've been through to get into space, mother."

I watch her face flicker with surprise. "Just, be careful please. I'm asking you as your mother and as an ally."

I look at her downcast face and a part of me wishes I wouldn't be so stubborn. "I'll be fine. I promise, we're going to fix this for your sake, Centauri's sake and Earth's sake."

"Like I said." She states, "Don't get attached to anyone and you'll be on your way home when it's all said and done. This is no place for you and I will feel like I have failed if you die out here."

"I understand, I'll try not to." I give a half hearted smile before Alkina announces our arrival at the colony. "Well, now we have an army to create. No time to chat." I inch past her and walk down the hall, trying to ignore the nagging guilt and worry that sits on my chest.